If you are a patient with Rheumatoid arthritis, you probably noted that eating certain foods, being under a lot of stress, or sleeping poorly at night, will affect how you feel. Many of my patients will notice that eating more sugar, drinking more than usual, or eating” fast food” will cause more pain in their joints the next day.
Have you ever experienced that?
In my previous article, I educated you on “WHY” you must adopt certain lifestyle interventions.
In this article, I will present a food pyramid I created for my patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This pyramid will include information about the food you have to eat, supplements you may consider, and other lifestyle interventions you need to adopt to reduce your inflammation level and, most importantly, the pain you experience.
Pyramid Base
The pyramid’s base layer consists of foods you need to incorporate daily.
The foods that I recommend you try daily are:
- Leafy greens, lots of vegetables, legumes, and fruits
- Whole grain cereals
- Try to drink green juice, if not every day at least a 4-5 times/a week
- Eat a lot of salads and drizzle olive oil on top of them
- Use a lot of spices like garlic, ginger, turmeric, or pepper
- Eat fermented foods like sauerkraut, pickles, yogurt or kefir
- Eat a handful of nuts every day
- Don’t forget to drink at least 3 liters of water/per day
Start a meditation practice, for example, a breathing technique that you should practice at least twice daily.
And
Exercise 30 min/day . You can do stretching, walking or swimming.
Second Layer
The second layer of the pyramid consists of foods that I recommend weekly.
- Eat wild-caught fish at least 2-3x/ week
- Eat eggs 1-2 a week and red meat only 1x/a week
- When you want to drink a coffee, try to drink a black coffee or replace the coffee with green tea.
You likely heard about the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits of green tea. Yes, some studies showed beneficial effects in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis.
Third Layer
The third layer of the pyramid consists of supplements that can be added as adjunctive therapy to your RA medication. These supplements have been scientifically proven to reduce the risk of autoimmune disease or decrease inflammation and pain. However, before you start any supplements, please discuss them with your physician, that will evaluate the risk and benefits in your case.
- Vitamin D reduces the risk of developing autoimmune diseases, especially RA.
- Fish oil was also found to help decrease inflammation, reduce pain and induce disease remission faster when added to conventional therapy in Rheumatoid arthritis patients.
- Turmeric/ curcumin can also help decrease inflammation, joint pain, and swelling, and the need for more NSAIDs. Don’t forget that turmeric/ curcumin needs black pepper for better absorption in your gut.
Upper Layer
The pyramid’s upper layer comprises foods you should rarely use, like dark chocolate and red wine.
- Dark chocolate, like green tea, contains polyphenols that can have anti-inflammatory properties.
- Red wine in moderation (less than 4 glasses/ week) was also shown to decrease the risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
The key word is MODERATION. Please be careful, as many medications, including those we give patients with Rheumatoid arthritis, can cause liver toxicity. If you drink alcohol, you should always discuss it with your physicians and have regular laboratory workups to ensure the alcohol and the medication are safe for your body.
If you want to learn more, I have designed a comprehensive online course that includes the “Rheumatoid Arthritis Healing Formula”. This course cuts through all the misinformation that is out there and gives you a simple yet highly effective formula for lowering inflammation in your body.
The course includes
- A step-by-step nutrition plan
- 30-day meal plan with weekly grocery lists so you can implement this plan the easiest way possible.
- Bonus: a mindfulness course with lessons for each day of the week
- Bonus: an exercise course designed to help patients with Rheumatoid arthritis.
I want you to get the same results as my patients so you can become the person you want to be for yourself, your family, and the world. If you are interested, you may click the signup link to take advantage of our special discount offer. I look forward to seeing you on the other side!
